A tropical cyclone is a ferocious circular storm that ascends over warmer tropical marine seas and is described by heavy rains, low air pressure, and high winds. A distinctive characteristic of tropical cyclonic cyclones is the eye, a central area of brilliant sky, scorching temperatures, and low air pressure. Asani is the first cyclone to develop in the North Indian Ocean area of the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea in 2022. Sri Lanka gave the name Asani, which means “wrath” in Sinhala. In India, the cyclone season occurs twice a year, from March to May and October to December. Tropical cyclones are most common in the North Indian Ocean (the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea) during the monsoon season occurring in the months of April to June, and post-monsoon season occurring in the months of October to December.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), on Monday, May 9, at 5.30 a.m., the severe cyclonic storm Asani lay 550 kilometers southeast of Visakhapatnam and 680 kilometers south-southeast of Puri. The cyclone was also heading towards the Andhra Pradesh-Odisha coast at roughly 25 kilometers per hour. The epicenter of the cyclone was the North Indian Ocean. This cyclone was distinguished for its low TS from around a day and three hours before landfall, causing a relatively lengthy association with the coastal seas (Ray et al., 2022). IMD projections expected a rapid recurvature as the storm approached the shore, aligning the cyclone’s trajectory parallel to India’s eastern coast (IMD 2022). Cyclone Asani departed from the predicted path and took a north-westward path instead. It also hung along the coast till it deteriorated into a massive depression. It was made ashore on May 11, 2022, between Machilipatnam and Naraspur, with extremely low TS.
Cyclones Asani and Karim, named after southern and northern hemispheres, are twin cyclones that originated at almost uniform longitude and are currently evaporating. The construct contains two whirlpools, one in the north and one in the southern latitude, which mirror each other. The southern vortex rotates clockwise and has a negative spin, while the northern vortex rotates anticlockwise and has a positive spin.
Reference
Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). (2022). Severe Cyclonic Storm ASANI over the Bay of Bengal (7 th -12th May, 2022): A Report [Press Release]. Web.
Ray, S., Moharana, S. S., & Swain, D. (2022). Ocean response to Tropical Cyclone “Asani”: Surface cooling restricted by Coastal Downwelling.